Complete issue (pdf, 12.56 MB, EN) - GIZ

In Focus
finding its mayor, Antanas Mockus – a man who had a
vision for his city and the means and methods to encourage
citizens to participate voluntarily.
GIZ has also studied the work of the unconventional
Colombian and followed his lead. In South Africa, for
example, where Joachim Fritz looks after a programme
commissioned by the BMZ to strengthen local governance.
A part of this complex project involved working
‘We are in the middle of a
profound transformation of our model
for civilisation. We need new
forms of democratic participation
and global cooperation.’
Prof. Claus Leggewie,
Member of the German Advisory Council
on Global Change
with a group of young ‘peace workers’, whose task is now
to mediate in conflict resolution before disputes have a
chance to escalate. Their roles range from school crossing
und traffic controllers to arbiters in classroom discussions
on violence. They are called upon by people who have a
problem with neighbours, but do not wish to go immediately
to the police. Mockus would see them as an institutionalised
social norm that is more important than police
intervention, since its effects are lasting.
But for South Africa’s townships, originally built under
the apartheid regime purely as housing colonies and
now often dangerous hotspots for violent crime, such
measures are not enough. The inhabitants here need safe
and well-lit paths, supervised if necessary by citizen watch
patrols. They need places of welcome, commercial, religious
and cultural meeting points, and public transport
links to the centres. In short, ‘cities have to be de signed so
that their inhabitants can live together,’ says Fritz.
In many cases, a concrete project that targets a key
strategic area is not much more than a starting point to
help citizens understand how to use the city and its public
spaces as their own. Achieving this generates a momentum
that can be supported and guided by international
cooperation. What outcomes have been achieved?
How can various interests be balanced? What additional
support measures are necessary to reinforce the momentum
and channel it into other fields? ‘The know-how for
technical solutions to problems is already available in
South Africa,’ says Fritz. ‘What we bring to the table is
systemat ic, socially inclusive, process-oriented thinking.’
University professor Antanas Mockus created a scale
on which the success of the Bogotá transformation process
can be measured. At one time, academics at the National
University used to look at the country as a whole,
studying and writing papers on its problems. ‘But in recent
years the city itself has increasingly become the focus
of student research papers and Masters theses. Bogotá has
turned the spotlight on itself and is seeking solutions to
its own problems.’ The inhabitants have taken possession
of their city and are constantly striving to make it a better
place to live.
Cities and transformation are the subjects of this year’s
GIZ Eschborn Dialogue.
www.giz.de/eschborn-dialogue
fotos: GeoEye (P. 10-11, Satellite Image); istockphoto/Joel Carillet (P. 10); GIZ/Folke Kayser (P. 10); Carolin Weinkopf (P. 10); Dirk Ostermeier (P. 10); Istockphoto/Forest Woodward (P. 11); Stephan Elleringmann/laif (P. 12/13);
Emiliano Mancuso/contrasto/laif (P. 15); Afton Almaraz/Aurora/laif (P. 16); giz (P. 18, 19); Elliott Erwitt/magnum (P. 20), giz (P. 23); Istockphoto/Alina Solovyova-Vincent/MickyWiswedel/GYI NSEA (P. 23)
22 akzente 02/2012